Little Girl Lost
by Space Cadet 717
Summary: Keiko is an only child. But one day, all of a sudden, she has a little sister. She would be happy, if not for the fact her new sibling happens to be an orphan that she is illegally taking care of. And that this little girl happens to have a lethal secret.
1. Adopted

Space Cadet's Notes: I feel bad about killing off most of the characters from the original anime (oops, spoiler…), so let's just say that the setting of this Fanfiction is in a parallel dimension or something. Also, this story isn't as good as I'd like it to be, so forgive me if you think this is crap. Since it's just a Fanfiction I didn't try to hard… Still, I think it's decent, so please read!

Little Girl Lost: Chapter One – Adopted

I had seen the little girl around before. On cloudy days or evenings she would walk around town freely, and I'd never seen her on sunny days without her dark parasol. Her silence and lack of smiling had always intimidated the passerby. And with her 19th-century-aristocrat dresses and overall gothic appearance, it was as though she'd walked out of a horror movie; the kind where the protagonists are stalked by a distinguished and elegant villain—and she was the antagonist.

Unfortunately, I'd never actually spoken with her. That was something that sort of depressed me—she'd always seemed so lonely, so depressed. But I was shallow like everyone else. I was too afraid to approach her, even if it was to comfort her.

But I'd never expected to see her like this—and to be obligated so powerfully to become involved with her.

The door hardly made a sound as I shut it. It was almost midnight, so I had to be careful. My parents wouldn't approve of going for a walk at this hour, but I needed to clear my head. Besides, it was still a week before summer vacation ended, so it wasn't like it was a school night or anything.

I began my walk down the street to the left and allowed my worries to seep into the back of my head. All of my concerns about my life—and as a teenager, naturally I had many of them—washed away.

The stroll took me past three blocks and through the park. I remembered from my early childhood days that at the end of this park was the playground that I'd loved so dearly. In a matter of seconds, it came into view.

A tall metal slide with chipped orange paint. A complex jungle gym made out of a wood, steel, and plastic. A tiny sandbox meant for very little kids. A long swing set.

And there she was.

She lay, gracefully sprawled out in front of the first swing, facedown in the wood chips that filled the floor of the playground. She was wearing her abnormal norm, a gothic black dress with white ruffles. It reached her knees, were it ended with ivory lace. Her sleeves were long, despite the temperature, puffing at the shoulders and ending with a frill at her wrists. On her legs were knee-length white stockings and black mary-janes.

This was too odd. Normally she was so clean and polished, but now everything seemed ragged. Her shoes were scuffed. Her dress was ripped in several places. Her signature parasol was torn into black ribbons, pathetically clinging on to its wire frame with the last of its life. But the strangest fact of all was that her long, silver hair, which normally went to the end of her spine, was cut short to a jagged fray just over her shoulders.

Or perhaps the strangest fact was that she was here in the first place. Either way, she looked horribly hurt.

I stood there, frozen in place. My brain shut down from shock. What was this mysterious little girl doing—so badly injured—in the playground? After an eternity of staring at the impossible sight, my mind finally clicked, and I rushed over.

I quickly knelt down and lifted her into a sitting position. Her eyes were closed, so perhaps she was asleep. I jostled her gently.

"Hello? Little girl? Are you alright?" I questioned hastily.

Slowly, her lids rose to reveal bleary golden eyes. She stared at me tiredly for a second, and then she closed her eyes again.

"No! No! Wake up!" I shook her again.

With one small hand, she rubbed her eyes as though she was about to comply with my order. Instead, she swayed in my arms and fell into me.

"Please help," she whispered against my chest. This was the first time I'd ever heard her speak; she had such a soft, fragile voice, as though she had experienced a lifetime of hardship.

"I—Um—what's wrong?"

"Take me somewhere safe," she begged.

"I can take you to the police station," I said. "You can tell them what happened and—"

"_No,_" she said, surprisingly firmly. But instead of anger, I heard a hint of despair.

"But—"

"Don't tell anyone," she murmured. "Please …" Her voice trailed off.

I bit my lip and reluctantly nodded. I guess I could take her home and hold her there until tomorrow; and then, later, when her head was clearer, I could take her to a police station where she could be helped.

Her arm fell and, weakly, she pointed at her destroyed parasol. "Take my things too," she requested quietly. "They're all…I have…left…" To my surprise, her head lolled to one side, and she was asleep once again.

_Things._ Plural. I lifted up the parasol and discovered a hidden bag. It was tattered like her clothes and looked as though it had been packed in a few seconds.

Nevertheless, I had no choice but to obey. Something about her miserable voice was forcing me to do whatever she said. Gently, I scooped the limp little girl into my arms and gathered her possessions. With that, I carried her back home, barely even knowing what I was doing.

Mom and Dad were asleep. Good. I hurried upstairs to my room and pushed open the door. The little girl was still asleep, so I placed her on my smallish bed for now. I couldn't let such a delicate person sleep on the floor, obviously.

I checked the clock. It was a few minutes past one o'clock. My parents wouldn't be getting up for another six or seven hours, so there was no rush. What to do? I wasn't tired at all.

Of course; I couldn't help myself. I sat down at the foot of my bed and placed her bag on my lap. I had to unzip it gently, because the entire thing looked like it was going to fall apart.

The first object that I saw was a plush puppy doll. It looked up at me with big brown eyes from just below the zipper. Curiously, I picked it up and examined its short, fluffy tan fur and its little brown tail. It seemed strangely out of place in the possession of such a creepy little girl.

Underneath that was a small, dark blue book, with a small golden heart on the cover. I tried to open it, but it was locked with a tiny yet strong padlock. It was too little to pick and too hard to break. Shrugging, I placed it beside me with the dog.

Below that was a wide-brimmed hat next to a bluish-green slipper. Neither of them looked like something that she would wear. I wondered where the articles of clothing were from, and of what importance they had to her.

At last, I reached the bottom, where the first object she had packed lay. I lifted it out of the bag and turned it around, examining it. Although it had obviously originally been a happy thing, it now brought on a nostalgic and horribly sad feeling.

It was a photo.

The little girl stood in the middle, a bit younger but definitely her. To her right was an older girl with red hair and a large grin and to her left was an older boy with long hair and yellow eyes. Behind her were a man with dark beard and a woman with a mischievous smile. In the little girl's arms was a large doll with a stuffed machete in its hand. Interesting accessory for a toy.

Could this be…the little girl's family? I glanced at her sleeping form and felt a surge of pity. What had driven her so far away from them in such a state that she was in?

Silently, I repacked all of the objects and placed the ratty bag on the ground. Everything about her really was in bad shape. I felt bad not doing anything about it.

That was when the perfect opportunity for a pastime presented itself to me. I picked up her torn parasol and a sewing kit.

By two-thirty I had finished mending her bag and her umbrella, and they lay in the corner neatly. My sewing skills were none too great, which is why it had taken me so long to get them to look right, but at least her possessions were decent now.

The little girl still hadn't woken. After a while, I realized that I had been expecting her to wake up soon. Now I knew how stupid that thought had been—it was the middle of the night. Everyone should be asleep right now. I was practically nocturnal during the summertime. The girl could sleep as long as she liked.

Normally I would have gone to bed in less than an hour from now, but tonight I wanted to stay conscious until she woke up. If my parents found her, what would happen? What would any parent do if their daughter had randomly brought home a stray little girl? So I would have to hide the girl, but I didn't want to move her from the comfort of a bed without her knowing. So I would simply wait.

And then, as if by answer to my thoughts, she stirred. I jumped, surprised, and rushed to her side. Slowly, her ocher eyes flickered open, and she looked dazedly up at the ceiling.

"Hello?" I said quietly.

Still moving slowly, she turned to face me.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked.

"Physical or emotional?" she murmured.

That proved it. Something was horribly wrong. "What happened?" I inquired anxiously. "Did you hurt yourself? Is a member of your family sick? Is—?"

I broke off mid-sentence as she shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head again.

"Oh." There was a long silence, occupied by her staring at the ceiling sadly. I had to say something. "What…what's your name?"

She didn't look at me. In her soft little voice, she whispered, "Anju."

"I'm Keiko," I told her. "I—I'm here if you need help, okay?"

"I need help."

I blinked, startled by her response. I quickly forced myself to recover. "Oh! What is it?"

Her face remained expressionless. She stayed silent for a few seconds, and then said, "I need you to keep me safe."

"That's no problem," I assured her. "You can stay here tonight, and tomorrow we can go to the police station and find your family."

To my surprise, she suddenly flew into a sitting position. She whirled around to face me, her golden optics wild with panic. "No!" she begged, clasping her hands together in front of her. "Please! _Don't tell anyone!_"

"But—"

"If anyone finds out, I'm going to die!" she wailed.

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "You'll…die?" I echoed disbelievingly.

Anju nodded miserably. "Keiko-san, please…m-may…I stay here?"

No. No, she couldn't. How would I be able to keep her? It couldn't possibly be legal to just pick up someone from the street and…_keep_ them. If someone found out…

"Of course you can stay," I said quietly. "And just call me Keiko-chan, okay? I don't need so much formality."

"Thank you, Keiko-chan," she sighed, visibly relaxing. "My deepest gratitude…" She bowed deeply and then suddenly toppled back into sleep.

After a while, I grew too tired to keep myself awake. I decided that I didn't need to stay up to make sure that my parents didn't find her. Instead, I locked my bedroom door and hoped that they didn't have a key. I spread out a mattress on the floor and went to sleep there.

Several hours later, I woke up to the sound of a hard _thump._ Upon looking in the direction of the sound, I found that the source was that Anju had fallen off of my bed, and yet not awaken. I laughed quietly and stepped over to her to put her back on, but stopped as she stirred.

"Don't…" she mumbled, her delicate face pinching in a slight frown. "Don't…do it…"

Was she talking to me? I knelt down and leaned forward. "Anju-chan?" I whispered.

"Please…don't…" she moaned. "Mama…Papa…why…?"

I swallowed hard and started to shake her awake. "Anju-chan! Anju-chan!" I said urgently.

She twisted and a pair of confused eyes opened.

"You were just having a bad dream, Anju-chan," I told her. At least, I hoped it was a dream rather than a memory.

She nodded, sat up, and sighed softly.

I glanced at the clock. "It's almost nine o'clock," I told her. "Do you want some breakfast?"

Her eyes lit up at that and she looked up at me hopefully. She nodded, clearly excited.

It occurred to me that perhaps it had been a while since her last meal. I quickly scanned her, registering for the first time how thin she was and how baggy her dress appeared. "What was the last time you ate?" I asked, concerned.

She paused, thinking, and glanced down at her lap as if expecting something to be there. Then she shook her head and said, "A…a few days, maybe. Three."

"Oh!" I jumped to my feet. "I'll get you something right away, then! Is there anything you especially want? I have a lot of food…"

She shrugged slightly. Of course. If you've been fasting for three whole days, you're not very picky.

"Stay here," I said. "I'll be right back." I hurried out the door and down the stairs.

As soon as I hit the last step, "Oh, good morning Keiko-chan!" I looked to my left to see my mother standing next to the stairs with a broom in her hand. "It's good to see you finally up!" she went on. "Honestly, I don't know what makes you sleep in so late every morning. Haha…"

"G'morning, Mom," I said with a small smile. Before she could trap me in a conversation, I darted off to the kitchen.

Luck was with me that morning. Mom and Dad had apparently had rice for breakfast, so the unused cooked grains were still sitting in the rice cooker. Probably a serving that they'd left for me and—unbeknownst to them—Anju.

Quickly I retrieved a mold, scooped out the rice, and pressed together ten rice balls out of the serving that was left. It was a lot, but I figured that she would probably be very hungry. On my way out, I grabbed a small bowl and a bottle of soy sauce, and hurried back upstairs.

As the door opened I saw Anju curled up in the corner. She was hugging her legs tightly to her chest and her face was buried in her knees. It was such a saddening position that I felt another shot of sympathy for the little girl.

"Anju-chan?" I said, quietly so as my parents wouldn't hear me.

She looked up and quickly straightened her legs. I could see that her topaz orbs had turned slightly pink, as though she was about to cry. "Hello," she said. Her voice was just as soft and clear as ever, with no hint of thickness.

"Here," I said, closing the door behind me and coming over to her side. "I hope you don't mind, but I was trying to be as quick as possible, so I didn't put any spices in them. And I made a bunch, just in case you're really hungry."

"Thank you, Keiko-chan," she said. She took a rice ball from the plate and nibbled a little at the end of it as I poured soy sauce into the two dishes.

We ate in silence. She wasn't much of a talker, and I didn't know what to talk about at all. So instead I focused on not taking too much of what I'd brought—she ate slowly and neatly, as if worried that she was the one who was eating too much. Even so, I saw the thankfulness in her topaz eyes every time she took a bite. The poor thing was literally starving.

Wait—which do you die from first: starvation or thirst?

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I said, quickly standing up. "I forgot to get a drink for you! I'll be right back!"

"You don't have to—" she began.

"No, really, it's okay!" I smiled at her. "Just wait here. I'll get some milk. Or would you like some juice instead?"

"Milk is fine," she said.

"Okay," I said, and hurried back downstairs.

From the kitchen, I could hear the television going. My parents were watching that news channel that no one ever seemed to see except for them. Ignoring it, I opened the refrigerator and brought out a carton of milk. On my way to the glass cupboard, I heard my name.

"I would hate it if this happened to our little Keiko-chan," my father's voice said.

I rolled my eyes. I was fifteen years old. That's not so little.

"I know," Mom said. "It's just too horrible. I really hope they find that poor thing soon."

With that they fell silent, and the man on the television's voice became easier to hear. "It was a tragic event," he said. "Unfortunately, it isn't over. The culprit is still at large and most 

likely searching for the single survivor of the attack. If anyone has seen this little girl, please call this toll-free number…" I assumed that they were probably showing a picture. Curious, I peeked through the doorway to see who it was.

My blood turned to ice. Both of the glasses I'd grabbed slipped through my fingers and shattered on the floor. My vision blurred. I felt dizzy. "Keiko-chan? Keiko-chan?" I heard my parents' voices chant worriedly. I swayed, but managed to catch myself in the doorway before I fell into the broken glass.

"I'm fine," I said weakly, forcing a smile. "Haha, I'm such…a klutz…" I dazedly cleaned up the mess and got new glasses, with my brain swimming in ocean-deep water.

The girl in the picture was Anju.

I had just adopted a runaway.


	2. Shopping

Space Cadet's Note: DAMN! I checked out how the last chapter came out, and IT WAS CRAP. totally mangled it from its original Microsoft Word version. In case you haven't noticed, there were random breaks that had nothing to do with the story, and all of the scene changes were mysteriously unmarked. So I'm going to write "Line Break" wherever there is one in this chapter. Please forgive me for the last chapter! I hope you can figure it out!

Little Girl Lost: Chapter Two – Shopping

When I got back upstairs, Anju had finished off all of the rice balls. When she saw me, she hastily apologized. "I'm sorry, I was hungry and…"

"I-i-it's okay," I stammered, forcing a shaky smile. "H-here, I got y-your drink." I held out the glass that I'd poured for her.

She happily accepted it with a bow. She took a small sip, and then her yellow eyes flickered to my face. Perhaps I had an uneasy expression, because she asked, "Is something wrong, Keiko-chan?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, forcing the stuttering away. "I didn't get much sleep last night is all."

"Oh!" She looked at me guiltily. "I'm very sorry. It was my fault, wasn't it? I shouldn't have…"

"No, no, it's fine," I said. "I usually stay up that late in the summertime anyway. It's a bad habit. I'm actually thankful for you, because you gave me an excuse." I laughed, hoping that I seemed convincing.

She nodded.

There was no way I could hold it in. "What—" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Quickly I clapped my hand over my mouth to prevent further trouble.

She stared at me.

I rephrased the question in my mind. "Why were you sleeping in the playground yesterday?"

She gazed at me for a few more seconds, and then her eyes flicked away. Then she took another sip of her drink—stalling the response. Finally, "I was swinging," she said. "But I was too tired. And I fell off."

"Oh," I said. "Is that it? You weren't hurt or anything?"

She shook her head.

That seemed to be too simple of a reply. Even though it was perfectly logical, my intuition told me there was something more. "If you were so tired, why were you on a swing rather than looking for a place to sleep?" It was best to beat around the bush for now.

Again, she took a sip. This one was longer than the last. When she was done, she glanced at me, as though checking to see if I still wanted an answer. And then she looked at her lap in the same way that she had last night. "That swing set has a lot of memories," she said at last. "My sister and I used to play there. I wanted to visit it. To remember."

So that was it. Or, at least, all I was going to get for now. "I hope it brought back some good times."

Her eyes never left her lap. She fondled the folds of her dress. "It did," she murmured.

Once we finished our breakfast, I gathered up all of the dishes and stood up. "Anju-chan," I suggested. "Why don't we go for a walk today? We can get you some new clothes and stuff. You know. Stress relief."

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"My parasol is broken," she said sadly. "I can't go outside on sunny days without it." As soon as she said that, I realized that sometime today, she had closed my curtains.

"That's no problem," I told her brightly. "Last night, while you were sleeping, I fixed it. Your bag, too. I hope you don't mind the crappy job that I did, but at least it works."

She blinked and looked around. Her gaze rested on the corner where I'd stowed her belongings in, and her lips parted slightly in surprise. "Oh my…Th-thank you very much, Keiko-chan," she said disbelievingly. It was clear that she wasn't accustomed to such treatment.

"So, wait a minute," I said. "How come you can't go outside on sunny days without that?"

She shook her head the same way that I did when I wanted to clear my head and said, "It's my skin. I get burned very easily and very severely."

"Have you ever tried sunscreen?" I asked sincerely.

"It would have to be very powerful," she said. "High SPF with both UVA and UVB protection. Usually I can only get it with a prescription. And I haven't been able to afford it lately…"

"Well, it's not going to be a problem anyway, since your umbrella's fine," I said cheerfully. "I'll put these dishes in the sink and get dressed, and then we can go, okay?"

She nodded.

(Line Break)

Sneaking Anju out was no problem. My parents were still in the living room, watching the news. All I had to do was call, "I'm going out for a while!" and they didn't even look in my direction.

"Let's find some clothes for you, first," I said, counting how much money I had. Since I didn't go shopping that much, I had about seven hundred dollars saved up. "Do you want some more of those dresses you always wear? Where do you buy them?"

"I don't know," she said. "My mother gave them to me."

"Oh. That's too bad." It was also a logical answer that hadn't occurred to me. "Well, you don't mind wearing some"—I almost said _normal_, but caught myself in time—"street clothes, right? More casual dresses."

She shrugged. Even though the gesture was polite, I could see that she was feeling nostalgic about her usual wardrobe. Like she was leaving it behind…like she'd done to her family or vice versa.

"I could mend your dress, too," I promised hastily. "You'll still be able to wear it from time to time, and it'll be in better shape."

She seemed happier with that.

That was how our day started off. Over the next few hours, we bounced from store to store, buying outfit after outfit for her. She always opted for darker clothing. When I asked why that was, she replied, "Family tradition."

Afterwards, I took her to get her hair cut. The raggedly-chopped split ends were smoothed into a neat haircut, like a miniature version of her normal hairstyle. By the end of the day, she seemed extremely happy. And yet she remained unsmiling. No matter how many _thank you_'s she said, she never lifted the corners of her mouth at all.

I wondered what she had gone through for her to be happy and not able to smile.

(Line Break)

Anju had almost gotten caught that night. When I arrived home, Mom jumped me to tell me to go to bed early that night. Luckily, I managed to disguise Anju as a stranger that was walking past our house just in time.

"You only have six days left before school starts," she said firmly when I went inside. "Or should I say five, because this day is done? You need to get back into school sleeping patterns!"

"I will, don't worry," I sighed.

"I'm going to make sure you're awake by eight o'clock tomorrow," Mom said. "Seven-forty-five the next day. If you've had enough sleep the night before, that shouldn't be a problem."

Damn. That meant that I actually would have to wake up before the Mom-alarm rang, otherwise she would barge into my room and…well…

"I'll be up before you come in," I vowed sincerely.

That night, I gave Anju my bed and made a mattress out of spare blankets for myself. "Tomorrow, I'll fix your dress, okay?" I said.

She nodded.

A day went by, and then another. Finally, I managed to sum up enough courage for my suggestion. To go to the library. And she agreed.

The library was what I was looking forward to. I had a plan.

(Line Break)

"Anju-chan, why don't you go look for a book?" I suggested. "I'm going to check my email on the computers. Meet back here when you're finished, okay?"

She nodded and headed off in a random direction. As soon as she vanished behind the bookshelves, I darted off to the computers and went straight to a search engine. I typed in the channel that my parents had been watching, the date of three days ago, and the word _news._

The first hit was a good one. I clicked on it, and I wound up with a video of yesterday's news cast. It took an excruciatingly long minute to fully load, and then I skipped forward with random clicks of the mouse on the time bar.

"…think that the car crash that caused this mis…is pressing charges against…this time it changed because…tragic event. Unfortunately, it isn't over. The culprit…"

That was it. I paused it and backtracked a bit, stopping every few seconds to check where it began. Finally, I reached the start of the story.

"Yes, they did do a very good job indeed," said the newsman. "In other news, a mass homicide has occurred in a local neighborhood. Yesterday evening, an anonymous report came in that there was an 'incident' at the Marker family's mansion. When police investigated the house, they found the bodies of Calera Marker, Henry Marker, Karin Maaka, and three others.

"Experts have formed a theory as to what happened here. Karin Maaka, the Markers' sixteen-year-old daughter, had brought her two friends, Maki ((Space Cadet's Note: First person to tell me Maki's last name gets a cookie.)) and Winner Sinclair, and boyfriend, Kenta Usui, over to her house one unlucky day. That night, at approximately eight-thirty P.M. one week ago, someone paid them a bad visit. The killer is thought to be an enemy of the Markers who reacted violently to his or her feud with them.

"Since Karin's three friends were there at the same time, they were murdered as well, most likely because of eyewitness purposes. Unfortunately for the murderer, however, someone _did_ escape.

"Eight-year-old Anju Maaka is currently missing. Police say that there is evidence that the killer had toyed with his victims before killing them, a mistake costing him dearly. They found clues such as clothing fragments, blood, and long locks of chopped-off hair to suggest that this poor girl was all but tortured before she managed to flee. We now think that Anju is at large, hiding in the streets as a runaway.

"It was a tragic event. Unfortunately, it isn't over. The culprit is still at large and most likely searching for the single survivor of the attack. If anyone has seen this little girl, please call this toll-free number." A picture of Anju appeared on the screen, as well as a large phone number printed at the bottom.

I suddenly felt a chill travel down my entire body. Quickly, I closed the window and went to my email.

I had one message from my best friend, Kimiko:

Hey Keiko-chan!

I can't believe we have to go back to school so soon. Grrr… At least I'll finally be able to come back from my summer home and see you and the rest of the girls again! I hope that things are less boring for you back home.

Later!

Kimiko

Less boring? I'll give her less boring! I clicked the reply button and quickly composed a response in my head:

_So much has happened in the past few days. You'll never believe me. No, really, because it's so incredible—and dead serious. Police-worthy serious. You're the only person I can trust right now. Did you see that news cast about the homicide of the Marker family? Probably not. Well, basically everyone was killed except for this one little girl named Anju. The police AND the murderer are looking for her. And guess what? I know where she is. She's hiding in my house. Kimiko-chan, I am absolutely 100 NOT JOKING! She says that if I call the police, she'll die. HELP!_

My fingers typed up the message:

Hia Kimiko-chan

I can't believe it either. It's not fair that they're making us go back to that awful place. shudders Well, things haven't been as boring as I thought they would be here, but it's definitely harder without you. See you soon!

Keiko

I hit send.


	3. The Attack

Space Cadet's Notes: Ugh, I hate this chapter so much. It's short and really cheesy. Just bear with me. It'll get better, I promise. Also, be sure to check my profile to see what I have to say about this story.

--

Chapter Three: The Attack

--

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked behind me. Anju was standing behind me, with a couple of books held in her arms.

The first thing that leapt to my tongue was _How long have you been standing there?_ Luckily, I caught myself in time. That would have been a dead giveaway. On the flip side, it took too much energy to block that question, so I had none left to stop the next speech.

"I need to ask you something," I said. Stupid me.

She cocked her head to one side. "Yes?"

I glanced around. The library was almost empty, but not vacant enough for my comfort. "Not here," I mumbled. I logged off the computer, took her hand, and led her into the soundproof conference room.

"Keiko-chan?" she whispered. She could probably sense what was coming.

I closed the door and sighed heavily. "Anju-chan… I know you don't want to talk about it…but we're all alone now, and no one can hear us. Please."

She sat down in one of the chairs and shook her head stiffly.

"Anju-chan…"

"No." She stared at her lap.

"Can we start with something simpler?" I suggested. "Like why you always look at your lap when you're nervous."

Her head snapped up to face me, a look of surprise on her countenance. I could tell that she hadn't realized I'd noticed that. Then her face softened and she dropped her gaze again.

"It's because…" She swallowed hard. "It's because of Boogie-kun. I used to carry him all the time. He was there if I needed help."

"The doll?" I said, remembering the picture. She looked at me again. Oops. "I mean, _a _doll," I said hastily. She looked slightly suspicious, but didn't do anything apart from a nod.

"Did you lose him during the attack?" Crap. I hope I fall off a bridge on my way home.

Her face pinched into a frown. "You know about that," she commented, so quietly that I could barely tell what she was saying.

"Anju-chan, I am so, so, so, sorry!" I cried, hastily giving her a deep bow. "I shouldn't have blurted it out like that! I'm sorry! I know I don't have any idea what you're going through and—"

"No, it's alright," she sighed, still not taking her eyes out of her lap. "You gave me a home. The least I can give in return is an explanation."

"But I've only known you for a few days," I apologized. I felt horrible. "I can't just drop all of this onto you. I'm so—"

"Keiko-chan, it's fine." She turned her head away from me and held out her arm. "Look," she said, rolling up her sleeve.

I gasped. Lining up all the way along her arm were countless black-and-purple bruises, each smeared painfully across her pale skin. Anju pulled her sleeve down again and did the same with the other arm, which was identically injured.

"D-did the murd—person do this to you?" I demanded, horrified.

She nodded and pulled her sleeve down again. "He was very large. Almost twice my height and much stronger than me. It was a miracle that I managed to escape."

"That wasn't all," I growled furiously. "He also cut your hair, didn't he? And cut your _skin._ The police said they found blood. That _monster!_"

"The blood wasn't mine," she said. "It was my sister's. She bled a lot. Everyone else only spilled what came from their fatal wounds."

"And he made you watch?!"

She shook her head. "Everyone was running. He killed us one by one. He saved me for last."

I pictured helpless little Anju, running as fast as she could through her own now-treacherous hallways, hastily packing her bag with her most prized possessions.

"What a dishonorable way to kill," I muttered. "Torturing someone to death."

"You're wrong again, Keiko-chan," Anju said. "I was the only one who didn't fight back, because I was too small to. He finished with everyone else very quickly."

"Well, that's even worse! Torturing the _smallest one_ to death! How can he sleep at night?!"

"Stop talking about it!" she cried all of a sudden. She crumpled onto the table and started shivering.

My eyes widened and I clapped my hand over my mouth. Sometimes I wondered what I had in between my ears. "Anju-chan, I'm so sorry!" I whispered. I knelt down beside her and put my arm around her shoulders.

She moaned and curled into herself.

"But I don't get it," I said gingerly. "He's a filthy bastard and you know what he looks like. Take your information to the police and they'll arrest him. They'll protect you, too, so you _won't_ die."

"For the last time, I can't go to the police," she said. "He's not an ordinary criminal. You don't understand. You don't understand anything!"

My insides drained and were replaced with boiling water. I felt horribly sick. "You're right," I murmured. "I don't understand. Make me understand, Anju-chan."

"I just can't go to the police," she said. "He'll find me. And I can't go back home, obviously."

"Then stay with me," I offered. "Stay with me for as long as you need. As long as you want. I'll protect you."

She lifted her head and faced me. Her face was stained scarlet and her eyes were full of more pain than I'd ever seen in my life. "Thank you, Keiko-chan," she said, her little voice at the very edge of inaudibility.

I pulled her into a tight embrace. "No problem," I whispered softly. I felt tears boil behind my eyes, but I held them back with all of my might. I had to be strong. For her.

Anju did not cry either.


	4. The End

Hi-hi!

This is Space Cadet. I've come to announce the ending of _Little Girl Lost._

You see, I realized that I didn't really have anything planned for this story… I sort of got into a writers-block-dead-end thingy. Next time, I'll be sure to actually have an ending in mind before I start a story. Sowwie!

I know it's crappy, but that's the result of not having planned a storyline. I thought that I would simply make it up as I went along, but I didn't count on falling out of love with _Karin._ Presently I'm obsessed with an anime called _Black Cat _(CHECK IT OUT!)_._ It's just too difficult to focus on creating a story for something I'm simply not interested in.

And I noticed two prominent mistakes in the story: Ren wasn't mentioned in the death list. This was a typo. Ignore it. He's dead. Also, I failed to mention that Anju's family was killed because the killer was a vampire hunter. I was planning on explaining that in a later chapter, but seeing as I'm discontinuing the story, that's not an option.

I feel pretty bad about this. I left you guys with a terrible ending. But you have other stories, don't you? So, again…SORRY!

Bye-bye!


End file.
